Page 143 of Shadows of You

“Not actually your property,” I muttered under my breath.

He started to close the door, but Lawson put out a hand to stop it. “We need to talk to you about Tyson.”

Steven’s scowl deepened. “What’d that prick tell you?”

My brows lifted at that. “Trouble in paradise?”

“He’s a fuckin’ traitor. We had a thesis for our podcast. We were going to get John’s case overturned. Then we’d have movie deals and book tours. We’d be set. And then he was all,‘But what if she’s telling the truth?’Who gives a damn? So, I punched him. It barely landed. I can’t believe he called you assholes.”

“He’s dead,” Lawson said.

Steven reared back. “The fuck you say?”

“Tyson is dead. We found his body two hours ago.”

“Y-you’re wrong. I saw him this morning. I—there’s no way.”

“I’m sorry, Steven.”

I had to give it to Lawson, he sounded like he meant it. And he probably did. The guy might’ve been an asshole, but he didn’t deserve to die.

“How?” Steven rasped.

Lawson took a breath. “We’ll get to that in a second. I need to ask you a few questions to get a timeline. When did you last see Tyson?”

“Around ten a.m.,” Steven mumbled.

Lawson nodded. “Where was he headed?”

“I’m not sure. He said he was going into town.”

“And what did you do after you two parted ways?” Lawson pressed.

Steven’s gaze jerked to Lawson. “How’d he die?”

“I’ll fill you in as soon as I’ve got this timeline down,” Lawson said calmly.

“I’m not answering another question until you tell me how,” Steven grumbled.

“He was murdered,” I said, not an ounce of emotion in my voice.

Steven paled as his gaze jerked from Lawson to me and back again. “You think I had something to do with it?”

Lawson held up a hand. “We just have to get a timeline. Cover all our bases.”

“Bullshit,” Steven spat. “I’ve seen how this works. You guys try to pin it on the innocent guy just to get the case off your docket.”

“We’re not—”

“Fuck off, pig. You want to talk to me? Call my lawyer. I have one since you’ve been giving us so much trouble.” Steven slammed the door in our faces.

I turned to Lawson. “That went well.”

44

ASPEN

I wrappedmy sweater tighter around my body as I swung back and forth on the porch swing, watching Cady talk Nathan’s ear off at the fence line. She couldn’t have been more excited to have the three of us pick her up from school. She hadn’t batted an eye at my story of hitting my face on a cabinet at work. I didn’t make a habit of lying to Cady, but this was one instance where she wasn’t ready for the truth.

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